"When we have emergencies burning, the U.S. government will continue to spend money on firefighting, even if they don't have the money,"

Officials said the across-the-board cuts have had no direct impact on the 110 Hotshot crews around the country, the highly trained units based mostly in the West who respond to the worst wildfires. Most are financed and trained by the Fire Service and some by the Interior Department, but a handful - like the Arizona crew whose members died - are run locally.

"I don't know of any Hotshot crew that's been disbanded or not filled or been mothballed because of the sequester," said Tom Nichols, division chief for fire and aviation management of the National Park Service, a part of the Interior Department. "Because they really are our first line and our elite line for dealing with wildfires."

That's isn't what the article is implying. Instead, the argument is that fire risk reduction overall is taking a hit because of the sequester, because firefighting funds are being transferred from fire prevention programs. Still, linking the two in the same article is disingenuous at best, particularly if you have to include this line:

Officials said the across-the-board cuts have had no direct impact on the 110 Hotshot crews around the country, the highly trained units based mostly in the West who respond to the worst wildfires.

A fire that killed 19 firefighters in minutes would just as easily kill 22 firefighters.

I'm not sure what the best answer is to prevent something like this from happening in the future. I suppose you could have a helicopter with a water bucket shadow crews on the ground, but I'm not even sure that's possible because of the intense heat from the fire and the wind patterns, not to mention fueling logistics. I also don't know that one bucket of water would have been enough to save these guys even if they were directly under it when it dropped.

Whatever the reason was, the Republican Congress are still stupid shiatheads who allowed the government to default because they were too partisan posturing to agree to what frankly were already center-right leaning political proposals in the first place.

randomjsa:I was not aware that the sequester could cause sudden unexpected shifts in wind direction

So first it was climate change and now its sequester... What other hot button political item can we get somebody to run forward screaming about in the wake of a tragedy?

Alternately I know it would somehow be Bush's fault if he were in office now, since everything that happened at every level across the country was always his fault.

Do you always see into an alternate world when you go off your meds, libby?

The sequester directly affects the status of bills that tackle federal funding. You know, funding for brush removal and funding for fire departments. Funding that, if not passed, could require cutbacks to specialist teams like the guys that were killed. Cutbacks like maybe only having one guy serving as lookout over the fire line instead of 2. You, know, stuff like that.

Now, go find another cross to jump on. I'm sure you can think up another reason liberals are responsible for you being a failure.

I feel bad those firefighters died. However, they knew that was a risk when they took that job. I've had to cut my spending at least 5% over the last year so, it doesn't bother me that they've had to do the same. That's what I have to live with, that's what they have to live with.

Lsherm:I'm not sure what the best answer is to prevent something like this from happening in the future. I suppose you could have a helicopter with a water bucket shadow crews on the ground, but I'm not even sure that's possible because of the intense heat from the fire and the wind patterns, not to mention fueling logistics. I also don't know that one bucket of water would have been enough to save these guys even if they were directly under it when it dropped.

Drones. Clearly what we need here are more drones.

Seriously though I'm not saying it isn't worth investigating options, but at some point it has to be accepted that this kind of thing just can't be prevented, risk is part of the job.

In the midst of all this, spare a thought for the survivor of the Granite Mt. Hotshots...a 21 year old firefighter who was the lookout that day, who had just called his 19 other brothers to tell them the fire had turned, he could see it from the ridge where he was posted, and he was getting the hell out of there. A few minutes later, they were all dead except for him.

Knowing firefighters and young men as I do, I fully expect him to eat a bullet before the year is out, next to their graves or on the smoky ruins of that hillside, unless he is getting all kinds of support and reassurance that this was NOT HIS FAULT--and nobody else's fault either except that biatch Mother Nature. If you are of a praying bent, give this young man some prayers, and if not, give him whatever mental support you can. And hope he's not another survivor like the ones we don't hear about from Oklahoma City and 9/11 who let the political bickering pass them by.

MyRandomName:Bills and laws in general should be direct, well defined, and concise.

Now I know you's trollin'. Lemme 'splain' something... out here in the real world we have these creatures called "lawyers". These lawyers have nothing to do all day but look for loopholes in laws so that they can get the people who are paying them out of jail, a reduced or eliminated fine, denial of guilt, and so on. This means that a law must be written to cover EVERY SINGLE HAPPENSTANCE AND LOOPHOLE, and sometimes that takes a lot of words. Sometimes big ones with lots of syllables.

So if a law has to be written to cover every single thing that a lawyer can think of to get around it, it may contain many pages and words. Think of it like building a fence to keep the dog in, but building it high enough so that they can't jump, putting barbed wire on it so they can't climb, and burying it three feet underground so they can't dig under it.

As long as there are people who are willing to use the law to get around the law, the law must anticipate what those people will do. Now if you're just too damn lazy to read the law, then sucks to be you.

Most laws and bills are understandable for the average Joe or Jane with a high school education, but what conservatives want is something that won't tax their already overworked brains to their limits, sound bites that are easily digestible - never mind that they are wrong or only tell part of the story - as long as they don't have to think too much. The popularity of the FoxNews Channel, along with the countless "reality" shows that pass for entertainment on television, are a testament to this stupidity and sloth. If the idea can't be summed up in five words or less, pop go the synapses.

Also, you do realize that the printed text of most bills and laws is double or triple spaced, right? With huge gaps? And that usually increases the page count (at 12 point type) up to 150% or more? Makes it easier to read, too. Study it out.

Gyrfalcon:In the midst of all this, spare a thought for the survivor of the Granite Mt. Hotshots...a 21 year old firefighter who was the lookout that day, who had just called his 19 other brothers to tell them the fire had turned, he could see it from the ridge where he was posted, and he was getting the hell out of there. A few minutes later, they were all dead except for him.

Knowing firefighters and young men as I do, I fully expect him to eat a bullet before the year is out, next to their graves or on the smoky ruins of that hillside, unless he is getting all kinds of support and reassurance that this was NOT HIS FAULT--and nobody else's fault either except that biatch Mother Nature. If you are of a praying bent, give this young man some prayers, and if not, give him whatever mental support you can. And hope he's not another survivor like the ones we don't hear about from Oklahoma City and 9/11 who let the political bickering pass them by.

Also, this is a major problem because you already have bootstrappy states like Colorado, Texas and Arizona slashing their firefighting budgets, and then when their entire state is on fire and the pray for rain strategy of firefighting isn't working out, they bootstrap themselves to the federal government and beg for help.

Just for the record, sequester was Obummer's Idea. True, the republicans took a stupid pill and went along, but Obummer was the one who originally suggested it.

On a more important note, I would say I am surprised, but this is fark and most of you guys have never seen a real live naked women, but still not one mention of the article on the right about why men give oral sex to women.

infidelic:Just for the record, sequester was Obummer's Idea. True, the republicans took a stupid pill and went along, but Obummer was the one who originally suggested it.

On a more important note, I would say I am surprised, but this is fark and most of you guys have never seen a real live naked women, but still not one mention of the article on the right about why men give oral sex to women.

son, I am disappoint.

blaming the sequester on Obama is dishonest. Obama suggested it because the GOP was about to allow us to default on our obligations. It was meant to be bad enough that no one would allow it to happen. Then the repubs blocked every attempt to hold it off. The republicans are fully responsible for the sequester, it's part of their general strategy to dampen or stop economic recovery.

infidelic:On a more important note, I would say I am surprised, but this is fark and most of you guys have never seen a real live naked women, but still not one mention of the article on the right about why men give oral sex to women.

I think we can safely say that some of us have seen this biology stuff while we were in vetrinary school and we have a pretty good idea of how it probably works. But doesn't this belong in a thread about the effect of the sequester on sex ed calsses?